Grease mop for griddles



July 10, 1951 D. c. STEWARD GREASE MOP FOR GRIDDLES Filed Sept. 12. 1949 QP WS A /m no. M W

Patented July 10, 1951 srargs rarest orrlel:

2,560,098 GREASE MOP For; snippers l Dench. steward, Pheimnnz. earliaaiin ,September 12, .1949 Serial N0. ,115232 This invention relates to a mop or squeegee for wiping excess grease from hotcooking griddles.` Briefly; th'ede'vice 'consists in'` arrectangular shoe'having'bilafteral side walls extending upwardly 'andinwardlyi "I'he top of the shoe carries adouble r'owof'centrally opposed hooksl A pie'ce'of absorbent material is held beneath the shoe by means of a piece of'cloth'wrapped around the shoe, and having its endsimpal'ed on'said hooks. A spring handle is provided with bilateral legs adapted to urge the cloth'into the space between the side 'walls'and 'the top of the slice, and thus to tighten 'the cloth.

lIthas been -the practice'in the past for chefs or'cooks inrestaurants'to periodically wipe ex'- cess greaseand' debris fromk the cooking griddles with an ordinary rag f or towel. This practice is hazardous from the standpoint of sanitation, `and because yit frequently lhappens that the cook may burn his hand or fingers AYby inadvertent oon#- tact with the hot griddle. The frequent laundering of these rags or towels is also a considerable expense. `By my r inventionv` I eliminate these diiiculties, and provide a mop wherein the Iwip*- ing velement maybe periodically discarded at very little expense.

' Itis therefore an Object of the invention to provide agrease rnop "for cookingV griddleshaving -readilydisposable "and cheaply replaceable absorbent andwiping elements;VA f' A lAnother object of theinvention is to eliminate the expense offlaundering `theordinary grease rags or towels which have been usedV for this purpose in the past;A4 Stillanother object of the invention is to provide a grease mop with a convenient handle elevated from the'hot griddle surface, so'that the danger of burning the op'erators hands or lingers willbe eliminated;I i V Anotherobject of theinvention is to provide such 'a mop 'havingvv an 'easily c leanable and sanitary handle, and thus to premete sanitation by elir'ninatingthe'V necessity for the cook to handle directly a greasy wipingA rag.

Other objects"willappear'from the description which follows; In the drawingst" Figure 1 is a partially explo'ded's'ide elevation of my device.

Figure 2 is a cross section along line 2-2 of Figure A1.

` Figure 3 is a cross section similar to Figure 2, except thatthe'elenients are 'shown completely assembled, iglree is@ filari described.

view af, the, shoe hereinafter .j

romim's. (ci. Vlgs-2311) Figure 5 is a detail side elevation showing the notches in the" lowerV part of thehandle leg. Y`Figure 6 isa cross section taken a'lcngline 6-5 of Figure`5.

` The' shoe I of my device consists preferably of apzrecta'ngular 'baseplate "2, of -any'desired dimensionsfbut ordinarily considerably longer thanfwidejhaving sidewalls 3 extending'upwardlyand'inwardly'. "These side walls extend upwardly about l/2 inch, and slope inwardly about 20 to"25"degrees from perpendicular.' The upper extremitiesof thesi'dewalls '3 are'smoothly round'- ed; as"'by"turning"the top edges thereof down# wardlyt'o 'forn'rretaining' beads, or iianges 4. Flanges i'rna'y extendslightly inwardly in 'order to increase the concavity between the inner faces o1 sidewalls 3 and the top of thebase plate 2. If the beads, or anges il extend suiiciently inwardly, the side wallsv 3 need not be turned inwardly.

The top of base plate 2 carries two longitudinal rows ofcentrally opposed 'hooks '5, designed' to impale and secure fabric materials. These hooks may be formed integrally with the base plate 2 by' suitably punching the plate, or they may' be separately xed to the plate. Cooperating with shoe I; 'I provide an inverted, elongated U-spring 6", centrally and bilaterally constricted to form longitudinal iinger'grooves l, and handle 8.' The lower legs 9 'of U-Sprillg 5 slope outwardly and terminate in inwardly turned anges Ill, forming longitudinal beads II. When U-spring Bis undeie'cted, the'distallce between the-outer extremities obeads II should be at least about the width of base plate 2. Beads II are thus adapted to extend under retaining flanges 4, and be retained thereby, and by side walls 3, and t0 bear. downwardly upon the outer edges of base plate 2;

'Ihe shoe I, and the U.spring handle I., are pref,- erably each formed from'a single 'piece of. sheet metal of suitable thickness, strength and resilience. I. have found ordinary'galvanized sheet iron, about 15% inch thick, to be suitable for th'e purpose.

Beads I I are provided with transverse notches I2 cut into the lower and outer circumferences th'ereof. The'se notches are cut in suchv manner-as to prevent 'longitudinal slippage of beads I Ii when bearing upon a fabric material mounted on shoe I, as hereinafter described, and to permtjtransverse slippage of said fabric over, beads Il.

To accomplish these purposes the notches I2 may be, either Vrshapedincrcss Section' asshown in. Figure 5,. Ortliey may, have. a rectangular. cross section. The specific design of these notches, their circumferential length, their depth and spacing on beads II may be varied considerably depending upon the nature of the cloth they are designed to bear upon, and the tension of U- spring 6. For coarse cloth such as burlap, the notches may be sparsely spaced and shallow; for a more tightly woven and harder cloth such as canvas, more and deeper notches may be required.

The edges I3 of the notches are sharply cut, and the ends I4 thereof tapered to form an obtuse angle with the circumference of the bead II, so that little resistance is offered by the notches to transverse slippage.

In Figure 6 it will be seen that the notch is cut primarily into the'lower part of the bead circumference, and extends partially around the outer part of the circumference. The circumferential length and spacing of the notches may be varied in proportion to the degree of outward and of downward pressure with which the bead bears upon the fabric I6. The notches should be primarily distributed on the circumferential sector which bears heaviest on the cloth I6.

In use, a rectangular pad of absorbent material I5 is placed under base plate 2. This pad may consist of any coarse felt, ber, or other cheap absorbent material.

A rectangular piece of cloth I6 is then wrapped loosely around pad I5 and shoe I, as shown in Figure 2, and the opposite sides thereof impaled on hooks 5. This cloth consists preferably of burlap, but any cheap, strong fabric may be employed.

U-spring 6 is then manually compressed and the beads II allowed to expand into space Il, beneath flanges 4. In this position, as shown in Figure 3, the slack in cloth I6 is taken up by being pushed into the space I1.

When the cloth I6 becomes soiled after a day or more of use, it may be removed and discarded,

and a new cloth inserted in its place.

The pad I5 will become saturated with grease,

but ordinarily need not be replaced more than once or twice a month, since it does not contact the griddle. If the mop is in constant use, the pad will ordinarily not become rancid, since it is constantly being purged with fresh grease. If desired, a mineral pad may be employed, such as glass wool. The pads may be discarded after use, or, if desired, they may be solvent cleaned and re-used. Likewise, the cloth covering I6 may be cleaned and re-used, if it appears economical.

While I have described my new device in relation to its use as a grease mop or squeegee, it will be readily apparent that it is susceptible of use in any connection requiring a resilient wiping pad and holder, such for example as wiping drain-boards and windows.

Having described my invention fully in relation to a specific embodiment, I do not wish to be limited thereto, but only broadly as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A grease mop for griddles having readily disposable absorbent and wiping elements, comprising in combination a rectangular shoe having side walls extending upwardly and inwardly on each side, the upper face of said shoe carrying a double row of upwardly and centrally opposed, longitudinally disposed hooks adapted to impale and yieldably retain fabric materials against opposing bilateral tension, a layer of absorbent material disposed under said shoe, a rectangular piece of fabric material disposed around said absorbent material and said shoe and having its two opposing edges impaled on said hooks, and an elongated U-spring handle adapted to engage, under outward tension, the inner faces of said side walls and to keep said fabric material tightened over its outer circumference, the portions of said handle contacting said fabric being transversely notched to prevent longitudinal slippage of said handle on said fabric.

2. A grease mop for griddles comprising in combination a rectangular shoe having longitudinal side walls extending upwardly and inwardly on each side, said side walls terminating in inwardly disposed anti-friction beads, the upper face of said shoe carrying longitudinally a double row of upwardly and centrally opposed, triangular hooks, a layer of absorbent material under said shoe, a rectangular piece of fabric material disposed around said absorbent material and said shoe and having its two opposing edges impaled on said hooks, and an inverted U-spring having its central portion constricted to form a handle and two outwardly extending legs, said legs terminating in transversely notched, longitudinal beads urged by said spring toward the inner faces of said side walls.

3. In a grease mop for griddles, the combination of an elongated, rectangular shoe having side walls extending upwardly and inwardly on each side thereof, the upper edges of said side walls having downwardly disposed retaining flanges, the upper face of said shoe carrying longitudinally two rows of upwardly centrally opposed hooks, and an inverted, longitudinal U-spring having its central portion constricted to form a handle and two outwardly extending legs, said legs terminating intransversely notched beads adapted to project bilaterally, under outward tension, into the spaces between the inner faces of said side walls and the upper face of said shoe.

4. A squeegee having disposable, resilient wiping elements, comprising in combination a rectangular shoe having side walls extending upwardly on each side and terminating in inwardly disposed anti-friction beads, the upper face of said shoe carrying longitudinally a double row of upwardly and centrally opposed, triangular hooks, a resilient pad beneath said shoe', a rectangular piece of cloth disposed around said pad and said shoe, and having its two opposing edges impaled on said hooks, and an elongated U-spring having its central. portion constricted to form a handle and two outwardly extending legs, said legs terminating in longitudinal surfaces adapted to bear downwardly and outwardly upon said cloth beneath said beads, and notched to permit transverse slippage and restrain longitudinal slippage over said cloth.

DON C. STEWARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 809,615 Hopkins Jan. 9, 1906 840,982 Williams Jan. 8, 7

2,011,214 Erickson n Aug. 13, 1935 2,417,356 Feild Mar. 11, 1947 2,428,618 Dispensiere Oct. 7, 194'l 2,482,344 Kent Sept. 20, 1949 

